"I Love You"

I was thinking the other day about that phrase at the top of this post. What does it mean when you hear it? When you say it?

Because to me it means, "Hey. I'll be there for you. I want to spend time getting to know you even better than I know you now. I will sacrifice for you. You are worth it to me."

I feel like, a lot of the time, those words are a scary thing in our culture. We're afraid of them. And understandably so sometimes--those words mean a lot. A lot of commitment and a lot of trust. And sometimes those are hard to give up to people.

But we don't always say it when we need to, I think. I think a lot more people in our lives could hear those words more often than we say them: family, teachers, neighbors, roommates. Those people in your life that do so much for you and don't realize how much you appreciate it. You know the ones.

I don't think "I love you" always means a romantic promise. I think it's beautiful when a couple feels safe enough to say those words because "I love you" means a lot. It's a phrase that reaches deep into our hearts and touches the strings that make us want to say it back. And that's when this life is worth it.

Tall Art

So you remember that Tall Club activity I had last night? Well. It was a lot of fun. I think these are my kind of people (all six of them that were at the activity last night). I'm excited to make new friends and get to know people on campus. I think it'll be really good for me. PLUS, they helped bring out my artistic side!!! We did finger painting and I had a lot of fun creating this little masterpiece with another one of the girls:

I then threw it in the garbage as soon as the activity was over. . . I figured a picture was good enough, especially because I wasn't sure the paint was ever going to dry. Which would've been irritating.

But anyways, people are awesome. Friends are worth it.

On My Mind

This year I've been chomping at the bit so to speak about the Christmas season. I'm not usually like this, but this year. . . well I've probably been excited for Christmas since before Halloween. I didn't do anything about it back then, though. But it's almost Thanksgiving and I haven't been able to wait any longer. So I'm listening to one of my favorite Christmas CDs. And I'm allowed to do that right now because my roommate who FREAKS out every time Christmas is even mentioned before Thanksgiving is over is asleep. So this is a bit of a guilty pleasure. And I am RELISHING it!

I'm also super excited to decorate this apartment. Two of my roommates are determined to get a live Christmas tree so I'm excited about that. It's going to smell delightful in here always. I have all sorts of visions of what we're going to do to this place :)

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We had a cleaning check this past Saturday. None of us passed, some of the fails were ridiculous and I'm annoyed that I have to pay five dollars for a few fingerprints that showed up on the mirror between when I cleaned it and when they checked it, but whatever. I passed the re-check today.

Cleaning checks are kind of the bane of my existence. They cause so much stress in this apartment. But I'm also extremely grateful for them. If it weren't for cleaning checks I doubt much of anyone would do any cleaning besides me, and I wonder if I'd even be able to make it to my bed in my bedroom (I think my small path leading to it would be overcome with my roommates clothes and books and shoes. . . It already happens often enough for me to be concerned.

Karena and Amy's bedroom was a disaster when they came to check the apartment on Saturday, Elizabeth's side of the room was as well. They were in the same condition last cleaning check as well. Because of that, I'm pretty sure our landlords are going to start springing surprise cleaning checks on us. Because of this, I came to the realization that my cleaning the apartment solo between cleaning checks wasn't going to cut it anymore. So I'm creating a weekly chore chart. I really hope this improves things in this apartment.

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Amy is moving out in December. I am going to miss her so much! I've had the opportunity to get to know her a lot better lately and I love her to death! There will definitely be a gap in the apartment without her. I wonder if we'll be getting a new roommate. . . If we are I really hope I grow to love her as well. Good roommates make all the difference.

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I joined the tall club here at BYU a few weeks ago and I'll be attending my first activity tomorrow night. We'll be taking pictures for tall club posters and finger painting. This is right up my alley and I am so incredibly excited for it! It's going to be great for me to get out there and become social again. I think I've kind of allowed myself to get caught up in the scholastics of school and have needed a push to meet--really meet--people. I think this whole club business is going to be my saving grace this year.

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Elizabeth and Karena both have wonderful boyfriends and Alisha goes on dates frequently. And I haven't been and it was really tough on me for a while. But I came to the realization just barely (sitting in the room as adorable couple #2 [Karena and Morgan]) that I am completely okay with being single. Sure it would be nice to have someone, but I'm happy where I am right now. And that makes me even happier because I'm choosing to be happy. And I'm not allowing my happiness to be dependent on the interest of others. I have divine worth and that doesn't change based on what other people think or feel. That is a liberating thought.

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Have I mentioned already that I love Christmas and Christmas music and the feeling of this season and everything about it? Because I do. Life truly is wonderful.